Not Marooned
by Obi Martin
Since I had never taught or taken an AP class before, I went on College Central’s website to figure out what it takes to make an AP world literature class different Continue reading . . . “Obi Martin: Not Marooned”
Hearth
by Anita Yoder
What ember sparks,
Alights your eyes?
It harks to mine and
Begs to hold
My eyes and warm them. Continue reading . . . “Anita Yoder: Hearth”
Ill Gaiety
by Joella Wadel
I take this walk.
Affection cold, corroded steel—
Company unnecessary—
Solitude an uncanny, joyful occasion. Continue reading . . . “Joella Wadel: Ill Gaiety”
Jeremy Troyer: After an Ice Storm
After an Ice Storm
by Jeremy Troyer
Outside my window, branches fall
from the ice of a long day.
The winter rains did not nourish them,
and now in the darkness, I hear them cracking Continue reading . . . “Jeremy Troyer: After an Ice Storm”
Friday Night
by Phoebe Anthus
Tired ankles creak from the weight of the week
where we have toiled in an Eden gone mad with grief.
And now we sit on the rim of the night,
stretched bleak as the highway roads, Continue reading . . . “Phoebe Anthus: Friday Night”
Dear readers,
The 2020 issue of the Leaf is now available for purchase on our website. It includes many original poems, as well as some that have been published on the Curator in the past year. Continue reading . . . “Leaf 2020 is available!”
Mack
by Daniel Hess
Look at the pad of your thumb
magnify the size, round it some,
harden the print, trace
and duplicate in rough Continue reading . . . “Daniel Hess: Mack”
Magic
by Marilyn Martin
Etymology of Glamour:
From Scots glamer, from earlier Scots gramarye (“magic, enchantment, spell”).
September Baby
by Joella Wadel
Go, gilded flag of goldenrod—
Announce the autumn guest
Perform in haste my bright command
Make genial request Continue reading . . . “Joella Wadel: September Baby”
autumn leaf
by David Shafer
a whisper on a shallow breath
drifting to a gentle death
the leaf, it falls without a sound
to join his fellows on the ground Continue reading . . . “David Shafer: Autumn Leaf”
Enough
By Daniel Hess
Like Obi, I want the confrontation of words;
the solid smack, the concrete slapping and fact
inhabiting onslaught of meaning and sound.
Like Mr. Bultititude, my good friend Jer, and maybe you, Continue reading . . . “Daniel Hess: Enough”
We Wake to Sleep
by Kyle Lehman
We wake to sleep, we breathe to cry.
Our mothers dreamed and brought us forth to die;
For every cradle opens up a grave,
And every child is one we cannot save. Continue reading . . . “Kyle Lehman: We Wake to Sleep”
The Flood
by Christopher Good
I knew a man once
(not fourteen days ago)
who went down into Jordan, rain falling
down and down, the dirty water Continue reading . . . “Christopher Good: The Flood”
Is This Pressure or Erasure?
by Conrad Martin
A meditation on “This Is Pressure, Not Erasure,” by Shannon Blank
Say you are walking along the seashore—that place where land and water seam together—and when you could have stopped, you keep on walking, because you are alone. Continue reading . . . “Is This Pressure or Erasure?”
Abigail Heatwole: Days of Rain
Days of Rain
by Abigail Heatwole
Chill, bleak, despairing.
Weeks of it.
Rain taps unceasingly on the roof,
rain slides tirelessly over the window panes, Continue reading . . . “Abigail Heatwole: Days of Rain”
Neighbor
by Joella Wadel
Who are you—I want to know—
under the arched brow?
I could have passed by minutes earlier
and never experienced now. Continue reading . . . “Joella Wadel: Neighbor”
Shannon Blank: This Is Pressure, Not Erasure
This Is Pressure, Not Erasure
by Shannon Blank
This thing I have not in my mind
but body
and not a thing but place I have
here knotted uptight oddly. Continue reading . . . “Shannon Blank: This Is Pressure, Not Erasure”
Captivated
by Grace Hertzler
I’m waiting for the moon to top the trees.
I can’t abandon her just yet, so please
let me remain here with the whippoorwills.
The moonlight mesmerizes. Continue reading . . . “Grace Hertzler: Captivated”
Watchman
by Josiah Peachey
Watchman what of the night?
Watchman what of . . .
Watchman what?
Watchman . . . Continue reading . . . “Josiah Peachey: Watchman”
Pot-luck
by Daniel Hess
I’m leaning, once again determinist
Digesting, once again a pot-luck meal
Maybe luck has missed or, doubly,
Demigods have doomed my paper plated will Continue reading . . . “Daniel Hess: Pot-luck”